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Catholic priest defrocked for ordaining women coming to Syracuse

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Eileen Kernan, of Syracuse, was one of about 25 people to rally outside the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Syracuse on Tuesday in support of the ordination of women priests in the Catholic Church in 2011. The vigil comes in support of Rev. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who refused to recant his view in favor of women priests, despite being removed from the priesthood. The vigil was one of many held simultaneously across the country.
(Photo by Stephen D. Cannerelli / The Post-Standard)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- A former Catholic priest who was defrocked because of his support for women in the priesthood will be coming to Syracuse to speak about the future of the Catholic Church on Tuesday.

Roy Bourgeois, the priest removed by Pope Benedict XVI for ordaining a woman, will be speaking in Syracuse Tuesday.Provided Photo

Roy Bourgeois will be speaking at 7 p.m. at the Palace Theater. The event also includes a movie, “Pink Smoke over the Vatican,” a documentary about the ordination of women as Catholic priests.

The event was scheduled before Pope Benedict XVI announced that he was stepping down.

The event is free, but donations are accepted. The event is sponsored by Faithful Catholics Concerned, which is the local chapter of Call to Action, a national group advocating for change in the Catholic Church.

If you call Roy Bourgeois’ phone, you get a message that tells you his name and this: that he’s an advocate for the ordination of women.

Bourgeois, a Catholic priest and missionary for more than 40 years, was officially removed from the priesthood this fall. In 2008, he participated in the ordination of a woman priest. Soon after, he was notified that he had been automatically excommunicated.

But Bourgeois continued to practice and was allowed to by his religious order, the Maryknoll. The group asked Bourgeois to recant his position on women in the priesthood. But Bourgeois did the opposite: he continued to speak out.

Bourgeois received the letter telling him he had officially been excommunicated in January. He told the National Catholic Reporter that he had to consult a translation service to fully understand the letter, which was written in Latin.